Trading away Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon, and Evan Fournier at the NBA trade deadline last season signaled to the rest of the league that the Orlando Magic are going through yet another rebuild. However, this time around, the Magic already have a ton of talented young players on their roster to try and build with/around.
Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz are both returning from injury this upcoming year, but are joined by Jalen Suggs, Cole Anthony, R.J. Hampton, and a few other young players to make up a high-potential group in Orlando.
The Magic are not going to win many games this season, but they should definitely be able to develop these young players even further and potentially tap into their full potential.
One player the Magic got in return for Vucevic at the NBA trade deadline last year is Wendell Carter Jr. and he looks to be the Opening Night starting center for this team. In 22 games with the Magic last season, Carter Jr. averaged 11.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, and shot 49.3% from the floor.
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The former 7th overall pick in 2018 should definitely see more than the 26.5 minutes per game he averaged with the team last season this upcoming year, but the Magic could also look to leverage him in a trade since they do have Mo Bamba, Robin Lopez, and Moritz Wagner on their roster as well.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are also rebuilding like the Orlando Magic, but the one thing that separates them is the fact that they have a ton of draft picks in place over the next several NBA Drafts. In fact, OKC has enough draft picks to field two entirely new NBA franchises, which is why they will be making some moves over the next few years.
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GM Sam Presti is one of the best league executives in the business and definitely has a plan in place, but could he view Wendell Carter Jr. as a key building block for his team moving forward? Oklahoma City really does not have a center that they can build with since they traded away Moses Brown this offseason and both Derrick Favors and Mike Muscala are not long-term options for this organization.
Trading for Wendell Carter Jr. definitely has its upsides, which is why they could show some trade interest in him during the 2021-22 season. Let’s now take a look at what the Thunder could offer up for the young big man.
